Oerba
by Venn364
Summary: A series of drabbles from the Final Fanatsy XIII universe based around the Gran Pulse town of Oerba and its young inhabitants.
1. Prologue

**A series of connected drabbles in no particular order. Mostly centers around the adventures of a young Fang and Vanille within their home town of Oerba.**

* * *

_Long ago, the people of Gran Pulse looked to the sky for inspiration, the promise of a better life._

_A life they could achieve through hard work, dedication and kindness. _

_To climb the mountain alone was a sign of ultimate strength. To hunt a beast alone was the sign of adolescence. To kill the beast you hunted made you an adult. To instruct the young on the skills of life made you a guardian. To lead the hunt into the plains made you an elder. To lead your clan or village made you Chief. To guard the home of the fal'Cie made you a priest or monk and to take on the ultimate role of honour and responsibility made you l'Cie._

_To live and to hunt, to run beside the others or to walk behind, to tend the soil and ride through the plains, to journey and explore, to show kindness and feel love, to feel sadness and joy, to look to the sky and see a promise of the bright days to come. _

_The people of Gran Pulse looked up and were filled with hope, knowing that they were being watched over by the fal'Cie and others of their kind. Nothing made them feel safer._

_The soil was rich, the game plentiful and the waters clear._

_Life was good, and then..._


	2. Morning

**Thanks goes to phantomGREEN for betaing this for me and the good folks of SquareEnix for making the game. Although whether they should be thanked for making Hope quite so whiney after his mummy issues had been resolved is still open to debate.**

* * *

"I'm sorry!"

"Quit saying that, it's annoying."

"Sorry..."

Fang let out a small sigh of frustration. Her continuous efforts to get the much smaller girl to stop apologizing only seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Listen to me, ok? Stop apologizing. You're family was traveling to Oerba, right? That means that we're from the same village, or we're gonna be, at least. Of course I'm gonna protect you," Fang said, placing a hand on her hip. "When you're part of a village it means you're part of a family. No matter what happens you're stuck with me, kid."

A fierce hug was the only response she received as the girl's stream of apologies dissolved into a stream of tears. Fang hesitated for a moment before allowing herself to relax and hold the younger girl close, one hand going around the girl's back and the other petting the child's head in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

"Honestly, what are we gonna do with you, kid?" Fang whispered into the sobbing girl's hair.

Darkness was approaching fast and Cocoon's soldiers were still out there hunting for them. They would have to find a place to hide and hope that come morning, they could find the way home. Fang glanced up at the oncoming night sky. "What are we gonna do with you?"_**  
**_

* * *

Upon returning home, Fang let out a small sigh of relief. They had made it back safely without the Cocoon soldiers finding them. As they walked through the village, she glanced at all the houses around her. All of them were filled with families who were now preparing for bed after the evening meal. Sounds of protest echoed from one of the homes, one of the village boys complaining about his bedtime. Fang's eyes narrowed a bit. She couldn't help but feel a small sense of envy for them. She would give anything to spend one more night with her family.

Fang wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to do with the girl she had rescued. She had been on the mountain learning how to check traps when the Cocoon soldiers had jumped her and the others. Fang, being the youngest and least threatening had been grabbed from behind while the older two children had been shot. It had only been her small size and quick bite that had saved her from either being shot along with her fellows, or taken back to Cocoon for experiments or a demonstration of the 'savagery' of her people.

Only a moment after the attack had begun there had been two less Oerba orphans in the world and one less Cocoon soldier had the ability to use their right hand. During her flight down the mountain and through the woods that followed, she had come across a clearing filled with blood, but lacking in the bodies needed to spill that blood. After staring in shock for several moments she heard the soldiers close behind and decided that this would be the ideal place to hide, it was well known that Cocoon soldiers were often discomforted by large amounts of blood and therefore unlikely to stay long or search thoroughly. Huddled in shock near the bush Fang had chosen to conceal herself in had been a small girl, the same small girl that now walked hesitantly behind her, twisting in every direction as though expecting another ambush.

Fang stopped suddenly on the path, causing the younger girl to bump into her. Pausing to think for a moment Fang turned to the other girl.

"I'm gonna take you to the Chief, yeah? It's been a few days so your family's probably here already," she said, plastering a wide, cheerful grin across her face. Taking the girl's hand Fang tugged her in the direction of the Chief's house, doing her best to convince the young girl, and herself, that everything would soon be back to a state of semi-normality.

"I bet they've been really worried about you, what with all them Cocoon buggers running around the mountain. Chief's probably gotten them a place to stay by now too."

Upon reaching the Chief's front doorway, Fang stopped once again and turned to the girl. She wasn't sure what to say, but she couldn't go inside with her, she didn't think she could face recounting all that had happened to the Chief tonight and recount it again in front of the elders tomorrow.

"Well... I'm not going with you. So I guess this is goodbye..." Fang said awkwardly, her right foot softly digging into the dirt. The young girl stood there looking a little confused, but saying nothing. Fang nodded resolutely, before pushing the girl gently towards the door, turning around and walking away.

Heading past the orphanage she called home, Fang went straight to the forested area just beyond to bathe in the stream and wash her filthy clothes as best she could. Matron would have her hide if she saw Fang entering the orphanage in such a state, no matter the circumstances.

Fang allowed herself to daydream as she cleaned herself off. She smiled to herself as she began remembering how her mother would berate her father for getting blood all over the floor of the home they shared with three other families. The fiery-tempered woman would seize the rather sedate man by the ear and literally drag him to the river before throwing him in. Each time without fail, he would reach out as he fell and grab her mother by the wrist, ensuring that he would not be alone in the cold water.

_Laughter rang through the air as her mother playfully cursed and Fang jumped in after her parents, drenching them both further and causing her mother to reach out and hold Fang in her arms, despite the black-haired girl's protests that she was far too big to be cradled._

_After they had been sufficiently cleaned, at least by Fang's standards, they climbed out of the river and began to head back to the village, their clothes hanging off of their bodies to dry on the way home. Somehow in the five minutes it took them to reach the village, both mother and daughter were always covered in dirt while Fang's father simply shook his head, wondering why he was the one to be thrown in the river when the energetic women in his family were always the ones who seemed to be covered in dirt and grime._

Fang blinked a few times, her daydream fading away. She seemed to finally be clean, having absentmindedly scrubbed at her clothes while her mind wandered. Fang clambered out of the river and dressed as best she could given the awkward nature of her soggy, heavy clothes. Opting to carry her boots instead of risking blisters Fang walked slowly back into the village, dragging her toes in the dirt.

She crept into the orphanage, hoping to sneak in unnoticed so she could change into something dry before Matron ran into her. Silently, she headed straight to the room that she shared with five of the other orphans of the village. After carelessly tossing her boots into the corner beside the door, she dragged the rabbit skin blanket off of the bottom bunk and made herself comfortable against the wall, slipping a small knife out of her belt to fiddle with.

It was only when she received a summons from Matron via one of the younger boys that she got up from her seated position against the far wall and headed out of the room. Overhearing some of the older children in the hall muttering about a new child joining their ranks, Fang uttered a small prayer to the Maker, hoping that the young girl from the woods was not going to be their newest resident.

Unfortunately her prayers were useless as her eyes immediately moved to the same young girl she had brought to the village not a half hour earlier. With a glance to the stern faced Chief waiting in the corner, Matron formally introduced Fang to Dia Vanille, the red haired girl with torn, bloodied clothes and a tearstained face.

* * *

_**Three years later...**_

She stalked her prey through the bushes, moving almost soundlessly over the rough terrain.

It was right in front of her now, grazing casually, unsuspecting of its inevitable fate even as she stood directly behind it. As she reared back her arm to strike with the spear...

_Fang... _

As her arm reached back...

_Fang...?_

Spear tip glistening in the midday sun_... _

_Fang!!_

She would be praised as the greatest hunter in the whole village. Soon the whole of Gran Pulse would know the name...

"Fang, get up!"

Nine-year-old Fang grunted before facing away from the younger girl and huddling against the wall, determined to finish the dream she had been having.

"Fang..." Vanille sighed before reaching across the bed to shake her friend awake properly. "Come on Fang, we have to help set the tables for breakfast!"

After another grunt was the only response she received, Vanille clambered onto the bed in order to get a better angle from which to wake the older girl, unaware of the smile spreading across Fang's face. Before Vanille could blink, she was pinned to the bed; Fang sitting on her like a triumphant hunter rests atop large prey.

"Now, what have I said about waking me up from good dreams, huh?"

Vanille squirmed, trying to get free.

"We're gonna be late, then Matron'll make us stay in the village and help with the other stuff instead of letting us go play!" The seriousness of this concept seemed to distract Fang and while she mulled it over Vanille shifted slightly once more, causing her friend to overbalance her position and fall off the bed.

Lying on the floor Fang stared up as Vanille peeked over the edge of the bed, nervous that Fang had been hurt in the short fall.

"That means get up, right?" asked Fang, grinning even as the younger girl rolled her eyes and made herself comfortable. Vanille watched, head cupped in her hands, as the other girl picked herself up off the floor and started attempting to straighten her interestingly twisted sari.

"Matron's gonna be angry you slept in your clothes," Vanille said sighing once more at what could only be the beginning of yet _another_ of Fang's rebellions.

Fang, fixated on turning the shoulder of her outfit around the right way, simply nodded distractedly as Vanille playfully pointed out the many flaws in the logic of pissing Matron off. Giving up on making herself look presentable Fang leapt forward and dragged the redheaded girl off the bed by the hand. "So, breakfast right? Race you there!"

Laughing, they sprinted through the village to the hall, where breakfast preparations were already well underway for the one day of rest in the week.

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**I felt that the story was getting a bit angsty so I added the end section to try and leave you with the nice fuzzy fealing XD I'll try and update again after my exams. Wish me luck XD**


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